Rayfield Wright, the football Hall of Famer for the Dallas Cowboys from 1967-1979, isn’t sure he’ll watch Super Bowl XLVIII this coming Sunday. If he chooses not to, I’ll join him – although for slightly different reasons.

The tolls have not begun to be taken. But surely that will start soon. And we can be pretty certain what those tolls will report. It’s just a matter of time, that is, before we begin learning of deaths occurring on account of the sequester and the decision by several states to opt out of the expansion of Medicaid as a part of the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare.

Two years ago, when the Illinois House failed by a narrow margin to pass a bill to legalize medical marijuana, patients and their families in the gallery wept openly. Eight days ago, a revised House Bill 1 was approved by a vote of 61-57. The chamber was filled with shouts of joy.

We have all heard stories about persons who live in low-income communities and cannot obtain the hospital services they need because they do not have health insurance. An amendment to the Fair Patient Billing Act, passed in 2012, will make things better for them. We just have to get the rules right.

Illinois has an unprecedented opportunity to offer health coverage to approximately 342,000 low-income residents who do not have access to health care and prescriptions, but there is hard-to-believe opposition to bringing this new Medicaid provision of the Affordable Care Act to Illinois.

The IL Senate is scheduled to vote on SB26 to expand Medicaid eligibility for the uninsured under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) the week of February 25. Call your Senator now and ask them to vote YES on SB26!